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How to select the best color scheme for your website

In our article on how to choose the correct colors for your website we discussed the effects the colors will have on the actions of your visitors. The influence of these colors can determine the success of your website, so it is important to keep these in mind when selecting the colors for your website. Once you have decided on the main color you will be using for your website, you are confronted with you next challenge. How to select a complete color pallet for my website?

Creating a full color pallet for your website has two main advantages. When you're only using one main color, the website will look dull or cheap. Having complementarity colors or different tones of the main color will enhance to look and feel of your website. Secondary colors will also help the usability of the website. If important buttons have a different color from the main color of the website, they attract the focus of the visitor, making clear what the correct next action would be.

In this article we will show you how you can create a pallet based on the selected main color. We will examine some schema's more closely and show you some online tools that will help you selecting or creating your own pallet.

Color schemes

Color schemes are a combination of colors from the color wheel. A color wheel is a helpful visual that shows how the primary colors combine into thousands of new colors. The primary (light) colors are red, green and yellow. These colors can be combined to create other colors like blue, orange and brown. The position of the colors in the color wheel helps you determine whether on not a combination of colors will work together.

Monochrome color scheme

A monochrome color scheme is made out of different shades of the same color. A monochrome appeals to everybody, but can look dull. It is mostly used when the main color extremely important to the feel of the website. For instance the use of green to emphasize a nature-feel with the website.

Analogue color scheme

Combining colors next to each other on the color wheel creates a analogue color scheme. Analogue color schemes appear everywhere in nature. As a result we perceive it as pleasant color combinations.

Complementary color scheme

A complimentary color scheme is created by selecting colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel. These schemes are very bold and energetic.

Three and four colored color schemes

Three and four colored schemes are created by selected three or four schemes on regular distance of each other on the color-wheel.

Tools for creating or selecting color schemes

Even after reading the first half of this article, you still might struggle on creating a beautiful color scheme for your website. Fortunately there are online tools that can help you to create a color scheme. There are two types of tools. Some tools help you to create a color scheme from the main color you provide. Other tools have huge collections of color schemes from which you can select one that suits your needs. Two examples of these tools:

Scheme designer: Color Scheme Designer 3

On the website of Color Scheme Designer 3 you can create your own color schemes. It is the perfect tool teo experiment with different scheme's, shades and pallets.

Scheme selection: COLOURlovers

On the website of COLOURlovers you we will a large set of ready to use color schemes. Use this website to get inspired or find the color scheme that will fit your website perfectly!